"Things do not get easier," say show creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss. "We thought they would."

In 2006, when David Benioff and Dan Weiss, cocreators of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, sat down with author George R.R. Martin to talk about adapting his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin's Hollywood bullshit detector was on high alert. "He gave us a pop quiz," Weiss told one interviewer, but they passed the test because their passion for Martin's books "was real and natural and completely unforced."

Their geek-boy résumés probably didn't hurt: Benioff, a D&D dungeon master in his youth, did the screenplay for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Weiss had a video-game-themed novel under his belt. Nor did their willingness to shelve all other creative pursuits—no small sacrifice for Benioff, who had adapted his own first novel, The 25th Hour, into the Spike Lee film starring Edward Norton, and followed that up with the fabulous 2008 book City of Thieves...."

It's summer, and if you've got the time, we've got another massive list of funding and career opportunities to get your next film off the ground! The following grants, markets, and pitch opportunities are organized by deadline from July to early September. An asterisk next to the grant title (*) means that grant is open to both doc and narrative films. To find out more specifics on a grant, click on the title and get started.

"Over the course of a year, Sheffield Doc/Fest collaborated with Crossover Labs and film festivals around the country to run a series of workshops on interactivity and filmmaking. All six interactive platforms: Klynt, Racontr, Korsakow, Popcorn Maker, Treehouse and Storygami, give filmmakers the ability to create interactive elements for their films, without the need for a programmer to build them.

(...) My role was to attend every workshop, try out the platforms, and write a report that would explain what each of them offers to filmmakers who wish to add interactivity to their films."

The key to better, tougher and more coordinated robots as well as improved surgical procedures, among other advances, could derive their inspiration from an unlikely source – the odd, square tail of the all-around strange seahorse.

While most animal tails are cylindrical in cross-section, the seahorse has a unique, squared tail that not only provides the fish with a tough armor, but also gives it a strong grasp to hold on to things like plants or coral and "fish" for food that floats by its mouth. A paper in the most recent issue of the journal Science lays out some of the virtues of the appendage, which provides potential insight into engineering and robotics applications given its combination of strength and flexibility.

The team has been working on the research for a few years now, and we first took notice of the effort back in 2013.

"We found that this square architecture provides adequate dexterity and a tough resistance to predators, but also that it tends to snap naturally back into place once it’s been twisted and deformed," said co-author Ross Hatton, an assistant engineering professor at Oregon State University. "This could be very useful for robotics applications that need to be strong, but also energy-efficient and able to bend and twist in tight spaces."

How An Old Tactic Makes Your Brand Human. Storytelling has experienced somewhat of a recent renaissance as marketers are looking for better ways to connect with their audience. The term “storytelling” itself gets thrown around quite often in marketing departments without much thought to what it truly means.

Last week, the company that (literally) kickstarted the new virtual reality industry announced a groundbreaking new controller that lets you reach out and touch things in virtual worlds. I just gave it a spin. It’s good. Damn good.

While the emergence of new technologies and social media networks has made it easier than ever to find your audience, it has also complicated the process by which nonprofits plan campaigns and strategies. With so much content available, people are turning away from lackluster content and searching for something more. But what are they looking for?

HALIFAX, June 9, 2015 /CNW/ - DHX Media Ltd. ("DHX" or the "Company") (TSX: DHX.A, DHX.B), a key player internationally in the creation of content for families and children, today announced Degrassi: Next Class, a new series in the critically acclaimed Degrassi franchise, will premiere on Netflix in early 2016. The deal will see Netflix become the worldwide home for Degrassi: Next Class, excluding Canada, Australia and France, where the series will appear on Netflix at later dates. The series will be shot at DHX Media's studio in Toronto, Canada....

Created by the British novelist Kate Pullinger and British-Canadian multimedia artist Chris Joseph, Alice is a book that blinks, buzzes, hums, sings, jitterbugs, plays games, and, on occasion, rains and snows. Using her laptop, Fleming projected the first Alice story onto a library whiteboard … and her fifth-graders went nuts. The story was immersive like little else, the first piece of fiction that helped them see life through a character’s eyes. A few students approached her afterwards to thank her, tears glistening in their eyes....

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.